Teachers say the darnedest things: How rice flavoring is more expensive than a Porsche

Mamechishiki, literally translated as “bean knowledge,” refers to trivia in Japanese. And, if there’s one thing the Internet is good for (besides videos of cats), it’s trivia!

Today’s “bean knowledge” is about the difference in value (by weight) of furikake (dried seasoning sprinkled over white rice) and a Porsche. It originated on a popular Japanese Twitter hashtag “#surprising things said by my teacher.”

One Japanese Twitter user sent out the following tweet.

“In terms of grams, furikakae is more expensive than a Porsche. #Surprising things said by my Teacher.”

▼Just to avoid confusion, this is a Porsche Boxster, and…

▼…this is some special furikake called Noritama. Please do not try to sprinkle a Porsche over your rice.

Ehhh…yeah, right, whatever. That sounds like something your teacher would say just to see if you were paying attention. Except that someone took the time to actually verify this absurd-sounding claim and tweeted out the following calculations.

“Noritama [furikake with eggs] is more expensive than a Porsche if you think of the price per gram.” I recently heard this, and wondered if it were true. If we use the cheapest Porcshe Boxster (1,320kg for 5,960,000 yen = 4.31 yen per gram) and the most expensive Noritama (2.5g x 40 packets for 538 yen = 5.38 yen per gram), then this is absolutely true.

In case you don’t speak metric, the breakdown would look like this in the Imperial/US customary system:

The Boxter would weigh about 2,910 pounds and cost about US$58,922, whereas the Noritama would weigh 0.0055 pounds per packet with 40 packets per package. So, a regular package of Noritama, which costs US$5.31, would come out to US$0.0531 per pound while the Porsche would only be US$0.0426 per pound.

Not bad for a bit of seasoning and some eggs, right?

Obviously, this ignores the bulk price and actual relative value of a Porsche versus some Noritama, but it’s a good reminder about paying attention to units! (Or, as my wife said, who wants one gram of a Porsche?)

And, since we love you so much, we decided to pull up a few more great tweets from #Surprising things said by my teacher. (They’re not exactly “bean knowledge,” but they are fun!)

When I was in high school, a beeping noise suddenly rang out in the middle of class. The teacher asked, “What’s that noise?” One of my classmates spoke up, “That’s the sound of my dead tamagochi. Yesterday, he was starting to look weird…and I was worried so I brought him with me.” The teacher responded, “That’s enough! Don’t say any more! Okay, everyone, a minute of silence for Saito’s dead tamagochi! #Surprising things said by my teacher

▼If you remember these guys, the next tweet may not apply to you.

Here’s one that’s more inspiring than humorous:

If a person’s life (using 72 years) were the length of a day, the age of 18 would be right around 6 am. Isn’t it kind of strange to decide, even though you’re probably still asleep at that point, “I want to die” or “I’m a worthless person”? Before that, at least eat some breakfast. #Surprising things said by my teacher